Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Protecting LGBT Youth From Betsy DeVos and Bullying

With Republicans pushing for "bathroom bills" and "religious freedom laws" - better described as special right to discriminate laws - and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wanting to "bring God back into the classroom," the atmosphere for LGBT children and youths could quickly become toxic. And then there is racist and homophobic Jeff Sessions' reversal of Justice Department support for the protection of LGBT youth under existing laws that would grant protection against discrimination due to sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It is a troubling situation, especially given the higher drop out and suicide rate for LGBT youth, not because of their sexuality or gender identity per se, but because of the mistreatment and abuse the "godly folk" and their off spring believe they have the right to inflict upon them. Indeed, Betsy DeVos' family has given millions of dollars to groups that seek to guaranty the continued right to abuse and bully LGBT students and obstruct efforts to protect them. A piece in The Advocate looks at the problem and proposes some solutions that may be difficult to achieve given the anti-LGBT agenda being pushed by the Trump/Pence regime. Here are excerpts:

A
recently released RTI International study sheds new light on the school safety
issues facing LGBTQ youth. The study, which examined two decades of research on
victimization among LGBTQ youth, uncovered a troubling picture of the
environments LGBTQ students face in schools.

Physical and verbal bullying of LGBTQ students is commonplace. In a
representative sample of eighth-graders in Washington State, 14 percent of boys
and 11 percent of girls reported being bullied because of their perceived
sexual orientation in the past 30 days alone. LGBTQ students are two to three
times more likely than their peers to be physically assaulted or threatened at
school.

Students who experience anti-LGBTQ
bullying are significantly more likely to report depression and suicide
attempts, skipping school, poorer school performance, and dropping out of
school. Victims of anti-LGBTQ bullying tend to fare worse than students bullied
for other reasons, perhaps due to the ways that hate-related victimization
reinforces existing perceptions of hostility (e.g., hearing homophobic comments
at school).

Even within this scenario, Orwellian equality rears its head. While
research shows many LGBTQ students are victimized, some are more likely to be
than others. Transgender youth and youth with unique gender expressions are at
a higher risk for bullying, as are those in rural or impoverished communities and
those who attend schools without gay-straight alliances.

As
LGBTQ individuals come out earlier than before, it’s becoming even more
pressing for schools to create a safe environment for their students.

Action is urgently needed to address the hostile environment that LGBTQ
youth face at school and its effects on school engagement, mental health, and
long-term opportunities. Our study points to three potential strategies that
could help to address these issues:

• Competency and advocacy training for school psychologists and teachers —
who generally report supportive attitudes toward LGBTQ students but lack the
knowledge and skills to advocate for them — could help create more supportive,
less hostile climates in schools.

• Fostering the development of gay-straight alliances in schools, which
seem to offer some protection against school-based victimization risk, is
another promising approach. Although secondary schools are not permitted to ban
gay-straight alliances if they allow other extracurricular groups (per the
Federal Equal Access Act of 1984), school principals still commonly take
measures to exclude them (American Civil Liberties Union, 2015). Such
discriminatory practices must be addressed and replaced with active support for
groups and services that make schools safer.

• Increasing resources to respond to victims of anti-LGBTQ bullying,
particularly to prevent suicide and school dropout. Affirming and culturally
responsive services for LGBTQ bullying victims are critical, particularly given
the fact that help-seeking often requires LGBTQ students to disclose not only
the stigmatized experience of bullying and victimization, but also a
stigmatized gender or sexual identity to school counselors or other
professionals.

While I was not "out" in high school - I remained closeted for over two decades after I graduated - I recall some of the bullying and harassment I received. No student should ever be place in a situation where thoughts of suicide are ever present and suicide seems to be the only means of escape. I experienced this first hand.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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